Commerce may be conducted in numerous venues. In particular, commerce may be conducted in real space or electronically, i.e., e-commerce. E-commerce is conducted via a computer network. Servers are used to store product and transaction information and computer terminals are used by purchasers to access the information stored in the server to view and modify such information via a transaction.
E-commerce may also be conducted in the context of interactive television (iTV), e.g., for the purchasing of video-on-demand (VOD). For such interaction, set-top boxes may be programmed for bidirectional communication with a content provider. The set-top box may receive content from a content provider and display the received content on a television (TV) for viewing.
It is desirable to provide an improved iTV e-commerce experience for transactions with respect to products provided in real space, e.g., tactile product related transactions and/or for products that may be physically shipped to a consumer or otherwise communicated or delivered to a customer, e.g., electronically to a cell phone, handheld or personal digital assistant (PDA), other than through the TV, as with VOD programs.